Author Notes:The crust of this pie is more like a shortbread than a typical pie pastry, which means no rolling and no fuss. It's adapted from Alice Medrich's recipe for a mocha tart (aka the kind of pie I typically like: chocolate), and it takes well to this fruit filling. —Cara Eisenpress

Food52 Review: We have a soft spot for press-in pastry dough, which is a great feature of this blueberry tart. SmallKitchCara has you simply mix the pastry ingredients with a wooden spoon and pat the wet dough into a tart pan – a boon to anyone afraid of rolling pins (ahem, Merrill). But it was the crumble-like topping on this tart that really appealed to us. The crumble sinks down into the blueberries and peaches as they soften, and crisps on top, creating layers of texture. The filling and juices are pure and loose, and timidly sweetened, which we thought complemented the fruit’s acidity. Two notes: we lifted the fruit from its juices before adding it to the tart, as we didn't want to make the crust too soggy, and we found that our filled tart needed a little extra cooking time -- about 35 minutes in total. - A&M —The Editors

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Serves 1 pie

For the Crust and the Filling

1
stick (1/2 cup) butter, melted

1/4
cup sugar

1/8
teaspoon salt

3/4
teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1
cup flour

2
cups blueberries, picked over and washed

2
peaches, diced

juice from 1 lemon

1
tablespoon sugar

For the Crisp Topping

1/4
cup flour

1/4
cup rolled oats

1/4
cup sugar

pinch of cinnamon

pinch of salt

2
tablespoons softened butter

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Mix together all the ingredients for the crust and press the dough into a fluted pie pan with a removable bottom. Use your fingers to spread the dough evenly, and be sure to press it up the sides. Bake the crust for 8-10 minutes, until is is just beginning to firm up.

Toss the fruit with the lemon and sugar and set aside.

To make the crisp topping, combine the flour, oats, sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Work in the butter, using your fingers, until you have a very dry dough that clumps together when you press it.

When the crust is done baking, spread the fruit evenly in it. Sprinkle the crisp topping over everything, then return to the oven. Bake for 20-25 minutes more, just until the crust is brown, the blueberries are slightly melted, and the topping is crisp. Cool slightly before serving with vanilla ice cream.

The good news first: absolutely delicious, simple & quick. The tiny bit of bad news: baked it quite a bit longer than called for & still the top never did turn golden brown. The only thing I did different was using a 9" glass pie dish instead of tart pan & there's no way that would've cause that problem. I would consider putting this under the broiler just to get the pretty brown color next time, but besides that absolutely delicious! We drizzled leftover condensed milk over ours which was fabulous, but of course it would be great with whipped cream or ice cream

This is a terrific tart. I took a lesson from a Patricia Wells tart and sprinkled some finely ground almonds over the pre-baked crust to keep it from getting too soggy. And I also left most of the liquid behind when I added the fruit.

Made this last night, using 4 c. of blueberries, and adding 1 tsp. cinnamon and the zest of a lemon to the filling and 1/4 c. chopped pecans to the topping. It was delicious! But -- I baked it earlier in the day and warmed it in the oven during dinner, and in the process the bottom crust completely disappeared. Never had a crust dissolve completely before, I'm mystified! I'll make it again, but with a different crust recipe I think.

Finally tried this tonight and loved it! But I'm tempted to mash this recipe up with Amanda's Peach Tart recipe, with a similar crust but it doesn't have to be precooked. I had great results with that recipe, too. Either way, I'm a convert to the press-in crust!

I made this last week for a BBQ and everyone practically inhaled it! The shortbread crust rocked my world.

Two adjustments I made that people will hopefully find useful: I doubled the crust so it fit into a 9" tart pan, and I placed the finished tart under the broiler for 15-20 seconds to properly brown the crust and oat topping. But watch it SUPER carefully so it doesn't burn!

This was amazing! i popped the unbaked tart shell into the fridge for 30 mins to firm up before baking. And my tart required 40 minutes of baking time because my crumble topping wouldn't brown. The crust is out of this world, and brainless.

Just a postscript to my last comment: A guest at the dinner party to which I took this on Friday night told me yesterday that it was one of the best desserts of mine he'd ever tasted. Also, a couple of cook's notes: I only had salted butter, so that's what I used. Quite a few people mentioned how delicious the crust was, and wondered what I put in it. (I did not add any salt to the crust, by the way.) Also, the topping seemed dry and still a bit uncooked after 30 minutes, and I was running out of time and concerned that the crust was overcooking, so I drizzled on a couple tablespoons of heavy cream and cooked the tart for another 5 or 6 minutes. Someone specifically mentioned what a great idea it was to add that touch of cream. I agree! ;o)

Made this after work to take to a dinner party earlier this evening. I was a bit skeptical about the extremely wet unbaked crust, so I added about 1/4 cup wheat germ before pressing into the tart pan, and then popped it into the freezer for about ten minutes before baking. Like others who have commented, I added more fruit. And I added a few toasted pecan pieces. Everyone raved. And it's so easy to make! ;o)

i also added more blueberries than the recipe called for, along with some blackberries. so glad i did. for some reason, the crust mixture was really greasy (and wet) for me... and i had to keep adding flour to make it drier.

What a fabulous base and top for a fresh fruit tart! Have made this to rave review twice now - the second time I used 2x the blueberries and substituted lime juice for lemon and it tasted even more delicious than the first time I made it. Nice work!

Loved this for its beauty, deliciousness, ease of preparation! Was making it again for my company this weekend when my oven ceased to function after I roasted asparagus (doubtless, immaterial). So what to do? Though the solution was obvious and very simple, deconstructed, this was as delightful if not better than the tart. Cereal bowl perfectly centered with one modest scoop of organic vanilla ice cream, colorfully wreathed with blueberry/peach mixture, prepared as specified, sprinkled with raw streusel.Healthier and better! What were the chances.

Made this tart yesterday for a dinner party and it was a huge hit! So simple, so delicious. Thanks so much! I'll be making this again, and again! Oh, and I agree with Chef Patty - I needed to bake it an addition 20 minutes to get the topping to brown. More than worth the wait!!

A wonderful recipe. Lacking a 9" round tart, I used a 9" square. And I substituted sliced almonds for the oats in the topping. We couldn't stop eating this tart. I will try it again with the oats. One note: when the tart baked for the second time, it took 30 minutes to brown. Thanks for an easy crust and a yummy tart.

I love how the crust was so simple yet so delicious!! :) Our fatal mistake was not letting it bake longer and ruining the topping a bit by completely melting the butter. (We also did not use a removable bottom pan). However, even with our mistakes it was still delightfully delicious! :D Thank you so much for this recipe! :D

I made this two days ago in a deep tart pan. Cooked it for over an hour until the topping was browned and the crust was a deep nutty brown. I'd take a picture of it, but it's long gone. Great combination of fruit and crust. Will be making it again once my tart pan's out of the dishwasher.

This was delicious - made mine with blackberries from the garden and plums from the farmers market - the tart and sweet were a great combination. Is it possible to substitute oil for the butter in the crust? My friends who are vegans would love this if only it did not have butter.

Can't wait to try this recipe--reminds me of the blueberry tart from Tate's. I'm not afraid of pastry, but I welcome the easy tart shell technique of this recipe especially during these dog days of summer!

Just a note that when I make crumb topping as above, I make loads extra and freeze in a quart container. It easily separates for use later and saves so much of the bother. Can use to top any fruit, pop in the oven and presto..dessert!

Just made this tonight with a few additions/modifications. Ummm..... my boyfriend and I devoured 1/2 of it in about 5 minutes flat. I did not have any rolled oats so I used 1/4 cup of toasted oatmeal bread crumbs instead, I zested the lemon into the fruit filling and added about 1/3 cup of pecans to the crumble topping. I also tripled the cinnamon. This tart is mad good. Make it! Eat it! You won't want to share it!

Made this last week with only blueberries. Doubled the topping and it was sooooooo delicious. Did not drain the juice and it all worked well. Left with an empty pan and now will make another one this week-end for company, a new favorite.

This is a wonderful tart and I thought the crust method was easy and quick. I, too, had a hearty dislike of making pie crusts until I read an article by Russ Parsons in the LA Times about the pate brisee from Thomas Keller in "Bouchon" (p.276). I had never heard of this technique but it ALWAYS works perfectly and is very easy to handle. It seems counter intuitive until you try it. If it works for me it would work for anyone.

I made this last night & it could not have been easier or tastier! It took some will power not to eat the crust (it smells divine) but the finished tart was well worth the wait. My guests LOVED it as well. Two notes: it took a good 20 extra minutes for the top to brown nicely; next time I'll probably turn up the heat a bit or place it on the highest oven rack. Second, I was skeptical of "dicing" the peaches but it was key - the peaches and the blueberries were the same size so the tart blended together beautifully.

I loved the simplicity of this recipe. It was interesting to see that the fruit was transferred into the tart shell by hand so that the juice didn't water-log the dough. An incredibly easy tart to make during the week, this recipes allows you to really savor the lusciousness of summer fruit.